Is buying a COROLLA a better deal than a PRIUS?

Heh, heh. The other day I took the three young Lady Airmen (Airladies?) who I supervise out to lunch. Today they were still carrying on about my Extremely Cool "new car". It's a 2008 with 31,000 miles (about 52,000 Km).

 

I bought my 06 prius for $13.5k.
The price of a 06 corolla at that time was about $14k.

 

Hence, we would conclude that in Australia, depreciation on the Prius is much greater than on the Corolla... (as I assume that the price of a new Prius exceeds the price of a new Corolla)

That supports the OP's point of view.

 

I almost bough a Corolla, but went with the 08 Prius. I took the few thousand dollar difference out of the equation, and it was a no-brainer. I like the gas savings, as I drive 4,000 miles a month for work, but I LOVE the coolness factor of the Prius. As much time as I spend in the car traveling, I never get tired of the interior--touch screen, blue tooth, and unique layout of the dash. After a few weeks in a Corolla, or most other cars, I would get bored. I can't knock any Toyota, as I have been a fan since my first gen. Supra.

Compare a Corolla to a Focus or a Civic, but not to a Prius, as it's way out of it's class.

 

You can't drive solo on carpool lane with corolla but you can with prius which saves time during rush hours everyday and saving time equals saving money sometimes, right?


iPhone ?

 

Shouldn't we be comparing with another hatchback? How much does a Matrix cost with similar trim and what is the mileage expected?

 

I test drove many cars before settling on the Prius, and the Matrix was one of them. I almost decided to buy it if not for all negative votes from my family. They all feel that the rear visibility of the Matrix is horrible, and yet they have no problem with that of a Prius!

 

For the OP, Yaris is a better deal.

 

No, most of us cannot legally drive solo in the carpool lane in any car model. It would wreck the carpool lanes in my area.

But this state does have a section of HOT lane (HOV or Toll) where solo drivers can drive by paying a toll, regardless of car model.

 

Mississippi 'solves' this by not having any carpool lanes in the state.

 

Factor in the "buy-back" value after four years.

My 2006 G2 I bought (Canada) at 32k in Sept 2006, and in May 2010 got 18k$, and had done 80,000km on it.

I don't think I would have gotten a higher-than-50% return on a 4yr old Corolla and the same mileage. More like 30%.

Then maintenance costs. When I had my Tercel for 3 yrs then the Corolla 3 yrs, excluding oil changes and tire changes, there were (though inexpensive) brake jobs - at least one per car.

I'd say that the odds even-out at 5 yrs of ownership if you do some 15k miles per year, and faster if you do 30k miles per year.

I doubt you'd get 30% resell value on a 5yr old Corolla with 150k miles on it. But with a Prius that's nothing mileage wise, you should get 40%.

Plus the at least 2 brake jobs, the twice more frequent oil changes, and 20% more fuel used. Consider the Prius is a bigger car with a better suspension and greater cargo capacity, it's much cheaper to own/operate than a Camry.

 

The Corolla and the Prius are two totally different cars. The same could be said about the dozen of other cars that get great gas mileage with a MSRP lower than that of a Prius. But again, they are different cars.

Factorying only MSRP, fuel economy, mainteance costs, insurance, etc is only part of the cost-of-ownership equation. You also need to factor in other considerations that are no so easily measureable as the above. The big one being that they are two totally different cars.

 

Yes but...

The OP was comparing them as though they were strictly transportation appliances with no consideration of other merits.

I think he was a troll and judging by the responses, a fairly effective one.

 

That is valid if comfort, utility and a host of other considerations have no value to you.

 

If that's the case, then you have quite a few more options. Why limit it just to the Corolla?

Try the Hyundai Accent Blue for $10,690 or the Nissan Versa 1.6 for $10,710. How about the Kia Rio for $12,390?

Those vehicles can be equally as capable "appliances" compared to the Corolla.

Perhaps you might want to take a stroll onto the Corolla board and ask the guys there for their opinions.

 

Ok boys and girls, It is time to stop feeding the Troll.

 

Were are just teasing it.